2 of 4

• Seventy-one percent agreed with the statement "Divorce is no greater sin than any other transgression."
• Twenty percent believe a divorced and remarried person should not be a deacon or elder.
• Thirty percent believe divorce disqualifies someone from being a pastor.

The majority of survey respondents classify themselves as evangelicals or conservatives. A smaller segment say they are fundamentalists. While all read the same Bible, the survey shows great diversity in attitudes toward divorce. What we are determines how we read, and how we read determines how we act.While only 8 percent of the respondents disagreed with the statement "Divorce is so prevalent today that it makes it crucial that we show grace to the divorced," "showing grace" means different things to different Christians. Many evidently regard divorce as such a serious sin that it requires an extra measure of grace to be forgiven. Additionally, subscribers who classify themselves as "fundamentalist" are twice as likely to reject divorced people as leaders than those who identify themselves as "conservative" or "evangelical."Experience as well as theological bent affected how respondents perceive divorced Christians. Not surprisingly, divorced people are more open to the possibility of Christians like themselves holding leadership positions. In addition, almost 30 percent of the respondents admit that the divorce of a family member or friend has made them more accepting. Females seem to be more influenced by such experiences than males: Almost half of the women and a third of the men agree with the statement "The remarriage of a family member or close friend has made me more accepting of divorce." What we bring to the text sometimes determines how we interpret the text.

• Seventy-three percent accept the remarriage of a Christian if the former spouse committed adultery or remarried.

Does showing grace to the divorced extend to approving of remarriage? Subscribers are far from agreement on how the Bible answers that question. Only 4 percent of the subscribers completely rule out any remarriage for a Christian after divorce.The majority believe that fornication (73 percent) and desertion by a non-Christian spouse (64 percent) are two scriptural grounds for remarriage. At the same time, a significant minority believe Jesus taught that believers should not remarry after divorce (44 percent) and that God designed marriage to be permanent, and remarriage constitutes adultery (44 percent). Less than four out of ten believe there may be reason for remarriage other than adultery or desertion. Those who have been divorced are more likely to accept other reasons.Agreement about divorce and remarriage comes more easily when there are applicable texts. When questions arise to which no biblical passage speaks specifically, agreement is much less likely. For instance, subscribers divide on whether or not the teachings of Jesus about divorce apply to people who were not Christians at the time of divorce. Or what about divorce and remarriage if a wife or husband has been physically abused? If Moses permitted divorce and remarriage because of "hardness of heart," does such hardness exist today? If it does, may it still serve as valid grounds for divorce? If divorced Christians are disqualified as elders, deacons, or pastors because of divorce, are people also kept from these offices if their spouse has gone through a divorce? Questions like these are made more difficult when interpreters must work from inferences rather than direct biblical statements.

next page... |  2 of 4

share this page

August (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44